More Pittsburgh-area residents are getting college diplomas, but so are other Pennsylvanians and Americans. The proportion of Allegheny County residents 25 and older with at least a bachelor’s degree was 28.3 percent in 2000, up 25 percent from the 1990 figure of 22.6 percent, according to a survey released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. “This one statistic is much more important to our regional economic development than other commonly used statistics like the unemployment rate,” said Richard Florida, the Heinz Professor of Regional Economic Development at Carnegie Mellon University. “We’ve seen a real revolution in the way we view regional economic development in the past decade,” he said, “and the most important factor in the region’s economic development is human capital.” During the 1990s, the county’s higher educational attainment mirrored regional and state trends. “What you’re talking about in Allegheny County is not that far off from the rest of the nation,” said Harold “Bud” Hodgkinson, a demographer with the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Educational Leadership. He said the proportion of adults with at least a bachelor’s degree in America rose from 20 percent to 25 percent during the period. “My guess is we still lag behind the leading counties in the United States,” Florida said. The census data also show that educational attainment is closely related to income. Fox Chapel led southwestern Pennsylvania not only in the percentage of residents with college degrees, 79.5 percent, but also in median household income, $147,298. Edward A. Nicholson, president of Robert Morris University, recommends the region not give itself too big a pat on the back for its educational improvement. See This Related Graphic More residentsgetting college degrees (84K) A look at college degrees, 1990 vs. 2000. You will need the to view this file. Download the free reader here . A big part of the local increase, he speculated, is due to its older population. As senior citizens with less education die off, the proportion of residents with a college degree grows, he explained. But Nicholson said the region also benefits from its large number of colleges and universities. He said many of their students stay here after they graduate. “You’re also seeing the result of increased options for adults to get degrees,” he said, citing the University of Phoenix and online programs offered by local colleges. Mike Toney, in his 50s from Monroeville, is an example of a nontraditional student. After graduating from high school, Toney attended Community College of Allegheny College and a nursing school. While working as a manager for Montgomery Ward in Lower Burrell, he quit nursing school and concentrated on business. After closing his own health food stores, however, he was forced to look for work. “What I was finding was although I had all this wonderful management experience, I didn’t have a college degree,” he said. In 1999, Toney enrolled at Robert Morris and majored in human resources management and accounting. He squeezes in his 12 credits of classes this semester by combining classroom time with online learning. The flexibility allows him to keep his full-time job as manager of Mobile Medical Corp. in Bethel Park. “It makes it easier for nontraditional students like myself going back to school,” he said.

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